NHL: New York Rangers turn tables on Flyers

DEADLY DEFENSE:：The Rangers killed off a pair of power plays and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves to deny the hard-pushing Philadelphia Flyers an equalizer

Reuters

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 - Page 19

The New York Rangers turned the tables on the Philadelphia Flyers with a 2-1 victory at home on Tuesday, but it came at the price of goal-scoring captain Ryan Callahan, who suffered a shoulder injury.

The Rangers, beaten by the same score by the Flyers on Thursday last week, lost Callahan early in the third period when he was injured during a tussle with Philadelphia’s Maxime Talbot.

Callahan skated straight off the ice and did not return. The injury would be evaluated further yesterday, the team said.

“We were holding each other up and his shoulder popped out or something,” Talbot told reporters. “It was unfortunate. I let him go. I kind of felt it, but then I saw his face as well.”

After trailing 2-0 by the second period, the Flyers pegged back a goal in the third through Kimmo Timonen, who converted a power play.

However, the visitors could not find an equalizer as New York killed off a pair of power plays and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves.

“It was really big,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said of his team’s defensive effort. “We’ve been on the other end of it, not scoring [on power plays]. It’s an important part of the game.”

New York had built an early cushion courtesy of Michael Del Zotto, who scored in the first period, then assisted on Callahan’s goal in the second to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

The victory was New York’s (3-3-0) third in four games following a slow start to the season. Atlantic division rivals Philadelphia (2-5-0) have now dropped two straight.

Bruins 2, Devils 1

In Boston, Brad Marchand scored the decisive shootout goal after teammate Nathan Horton forced overtime late in the third period as the Boston Bruins rallied for a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

Boston’s Tyler Seguin and New Jersey’s Ilya Kovalchuk scored on their teams’ first shot during the shootout. Then both teams failed on their next four attempts.

However, Marchand put the puck between goalie Johan Hedberg’s pads and the Bruins won when Marek Zidlicky’s shot hit Tuukka Rask’s left pad.

David Clarkson had put New Jersey ahead with his fourth goal of the season on a power play at 8:30 minutes of the second period. Horton tied the game with his third goal with 4:05 left in regulation.

The Bruins are 5-0-1 and lead the Eastern Conference with 11 points. That matches their best start since 1970-1971, the last time they earned points in each of their first six games.

Islanders 4, Penguins 1

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Matt Moulson scored a goal and assisted on another, while Evgeni Nabokov stopped 37 shots as New York dominated listless Pittsburgh.

John Tavares scored for the second straight game for the Islanders. Michael Grabner had his fourth goal of the season and Casey Cizikas found the net for the first time in his career.

That was more than enough to send the Penguins to their third loss in four games. Pascal Dupuis scored with just over a minute remaining to avoid the shutout.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 13 shots before being pulled after the second period. The Penguins gave it away 11 times, with two of the turnovers leading to New York goals.

Red Wings 4, Stars 1

In Detroit, Michigan, Valtteri Filppula scored two goals, both off nifty passes from Pavel Datsyuk in Detroit’s victory over Dallas.

Henrik Zetterberg scored on a two-man advantage in the final minute of the second period to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead, and Damien Brunner and Filppula scored 23 seconds apart in the third.

The Red Wings rallied after Loui Eriksson opened the scoring in the second period for Dallas.

All six of Dallas’ previous games this season were decided by one goal, but the Stars could not keep this one close in the third.

Jimmy Howard made 25 saves for Detroit.

Maple Leafs 4, Sabres 3, OT

In Buffalo, New York, Matt Frattin scored his second goal of the game with 1.5 seconds left in overtime to lift Toronto over Buffalo.

Frattin skated in from the left circle and wristed a shot over the shoulder of Sabres goalie Ryan Miller.

Jay McClement and Cody Franson also scored for Toronto, who snapped a two-game skid. James Reimer made 29 saves for the Maple Leafs.

In Montreal, Tomas Plekanec scored a tiebreaking goal on a power play at 5:31 of the third period as Montreal beat Winnipeg for their fourth straight win.

Canadiens rookies Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher each had two points in their first game since it was confirmed they would stay with the NHL club. Gallagher scored for a second straight game.

Rene Bourque and Erik Cole each had their first goal of the season for Montreal, while Olli Jokinen had his first goal with the Jets.

Nik Antropov and Blake Wheeler also scored for Winnipeg, who have won three in a row.

Senators 3, Capitals 2

In Ottawa, Sergei Gonchar scored on a power play with 2:30 left as Ottawa rebounded from a sluggish start to defeat Washington.

Jim O’Brien and Milan Michalek also scored for the Senators (4-1-1), who got 31 saves from Craig Anderson.

Troy Brouwer and Matt Hendricks scored for the Capitals (1-4-1), who squandered a 2-0 lead.

Gonchar’s winner came after Erik Karlsson wove through the Capitals’ defense before finding his partner, who fired a one-timer that deflected off Hendricks in front.

With time winding down, Anderson made a great save on Alex Ovechkin before robbing Mike Ribeiro from in tight.

Lightning 5, Panthers 2

In Tampa, Florida, Steven Stamkos scored his fourth goal of the season as Tampa Bay beat Florida.

The Lightning, who have won five of six to start the year, also got goals from Cory Conacher, Tom Pyatt, Dana Tyrell and Vincent Lecavalier. Stamkos, who led the NHL with 60 goals last season, has 11 points during a season-opening six-game point streak this year.

Peter Mueller and Tomas Fleischmann scored for the Panthers, who have lost five in a row after a season-opening win over Carolina. Florida have been outscored 23-5 during their skid.

Wild 3, Blue Jackets 2

In Saint Paul, Minnesota, Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period as Minnesota snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Columbus.

With the Wild seemingly on their heels after giving up a two-goal lead, Bouchard took a pass from Torrey Mitchell near the blue line, zoomed past two Columbus defenders and beat goalie Steve Mason above his right glove.

Mikko Koivu and Tom Gilbert also scored for Minnesota.

Mark Letestu and Jack Johnson had goals for the Blue Jackets.

After Columbus beat Dallas to snap a four-game skid, the Blue Jackets’ flight to the Twin Cities on Monday night was canceled because of fog, forcing the team to leave on Tuesday at 11am.